The present invention relates to the field of board games, and more particularly to board games that educate the players in the manner and style of advocacy, debating and judicial decision making.
It can be said that we live in a society that rewards the aggressor, the shrewd, and the silver-tongued debater. Yet, we also see the shy, considered and quite archetype winning in a variety of contexts. Indeed, much of the wealth in the United States is held by the very fewxe2x80x94but little is known of them. On the other hand, there are some who are loud and provocative, and well-known for their acquisitions.
Regardless of whether the purpose is economic success or simple human persuasion, the art of debating is critical to achievement. Purposeful human dialogue is aimed at convincing someone of somethingxe2x80x94whether it be a purchasing decision (an advertisement, for example on television or radio), or a moral or ethical issue (vote for this candidate or referendum), or simple companionship (dating).
Legions of books and papers have been written on the art of persuasion and argument. Additionally, attorneys are placed through the trenches of the Socratic method in law school (allegedly) to hone their negotiation and advocacy skills. Salesmen are educated on analyzing human need and seeking to satisfy that need.
Beyond the educational arena or the xe2x80x9cschool of hard knocks,xe2x80x9d there is no known environment in which skillful advocacy techniques may be conveyed by way of a sporting match and learned in a manner that provides education while also creating an enjoyable atmosphere. Moreover, the xe2x80x9cjudge,xe2x80x9d the arbiter of all disputes, the bastion of human authority, is, in real terms, often reclusive, distant, and unreachable. Most people know nothing of the judiciary, except associate it with some level of fear or punishment. Judges do not frequently socialize and, if they do, spend the majority of their time with other judges or with other lawyers.
Thus, the typical individual in society also know very little about the legal system. All that is conveyed to that person is conveyed by way of the mediaxe2x80x94television and radio. Only the most unusual of circumstances (where the guilty appear to be let free or the innocent tried and convicted) reach public attention. Ordinary, every day circumstances, treated routinely in the hundreds if not thousands of daily situations, are unrecognizable and unknown to the normal person.
Board games, a common form of past time, have been relegated to money-making types of operations (like Monopoly) and, in today""s world, are largely left for rainy days, or power failures. Typically, such board games lack the types of issues that are attractive to today""s person, and thus are a mode of last resort.
Educational board games are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,957 to Kyosaki shows a game for educating the players in the aspects of finance, investing and accounting. However, board games directed towards teaching advocacy, negotiation, debate and decision-making are heretofore unavailable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to educate people in a board game environment to understand the delicate relationship between positions, arguments, and outcomes.
It is an additional object of the present invention to create a board game environment that permits people to assume and learn the different roles of plaintiff, defendant and judge.
It is a still further object of the present invention to teach people about a courtroom, by emulating the effects of a traditional courtroom, with decisions truly rendered by ones peers.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of the disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages, and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described preferred embodiments of the invention.
The foregoing objects and other objects of the invention are achieved through a board game and method for teaching negotiation, advocacy and judicial decision-making skills to players, in which a board is providing having spaces upon which players may randomly, sequentially land. One of the players is determined at the outset to be the judge. The remaining players move about the board.
Unique to the instant invention is the ability for players to shift between play and judgeship. The judge is given the xe2x80x9cgavelxe2x80x9d and a black robe, together with the authority to supervise the game, to issue penalties to the players, and to adjudicate disputes that are created by an answer followed by an objection. While rules are generally provided for play, an enormous amount of discretion is provided to the judge, thereby emulating the courtroom experience. Indeed, the debate, while lacking in the calling of witnesses, is nonetheless in front of the judge, and is followed by the judge""s decision. The process, with the participation of the players at all levels, educates the players in the judicial process in a pleasant and exciting gaming environment.
The spaces on the game board conform to a plurality of categories, and pre-mixed questions, typically contained on cards, are sequentially read each time someone lands upon the space conforming to that category. The player who lands must answer the question; the other players must determine whether to object. Where an objection occurs, the answering player and the objecting player are both placed in a debaters box, for a debating period. During that period, as determined by the judge, the players debate the issue and the judge, who provides full judicial making authority for the game, determines the protocol and the outcome of the debate.
The remaining, non-answering and non-objecting players, listen to the dialogue and to the judge""s actions, but otherwise are not permitted to participate (unless so indicated by the judge). The judge may punish anyone for xe2x80x9ccontemptxe2x80x9d as determined by the judge. Contempt would include the failure to respect decorum or authority of the judge. This furthers the educational process. Penalties for contempt, as determined by the judge, include loss of turns, loss of a debate, or loss of winning letters.
Where the outcome of the debating period is a success to the objecting player, a letter is forfeited by the non-objecting player to him. Where the outcome is a success to the answering player, then the objecting player also forfeits a letter to the answering player. The winner of the debate also receives the letter that the answering player landed upon. Thus, the outcome of a debate is the winning of two letters by the winner of the debate, as determined by the judge.
Where there is no objection to the answer, the answering player receives the letter that he landed upon. This resembles the structure of the legal system, by providing the opportunity for greater victory as a result of winning a debate. The risks are higher to the participants, as are the rewards.
Once a player wins all the letters that spell out a predetermined word, that player is the winner of the game, and the game ends.
The categories and questions are predetermined to associate with a plurality of controversial subjects. It is understood that such categories and subjects can be varied, without deviating from the spirit of the invention, to conform with the social and societal interests of the time.
In the preferred embodiment, the categories include xe2x80x9ccheck yourselfxe2x80x9d wherein the players create a scenario in current events that will start a debate; xe2x80x9cgeneral informationxe2x80x9d wherein the players are asked about generally known facts; xe2x80x9crace cardxe2x80x9d wherein the players are asked questions about race; xe2x80x9cifxe2x80x9d wherein the players are given a fact pattern and asked to present an outcome; and xe2x80x9cdebate boxxe2x80x9d where a controversial subject is provided.
It is thus a feature of the present invention to provide a board game that educates the players in all aspects of judicial process, from assertion, to disputes, to resolution, and to consequences of such resolution.
The foregoing and other features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims.